Charlotte Walker Sews

The Photograph

It’s around 1950, somewhere along the east coast of England, my Nanny, Eileen, sits on a beach with her friend, Joan. Smiling and laughing; enjoying the sunshine, the sand between their toes and each other’s company on a trip to the seaside. Someone they are with takes a photo and a snapshot of that moment in time is treasured, not only by them but by Eileen’s extremely nosy granddaughter (that’s me) over 70 years later.

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Nanny wears a pearl bracelet, white sunglasses and a crisp, white dress with a narrow belt with metallic eyelets all the way around. She also wears a visor, it appears to be black but I can’t be sure and she probably topped it off with a red lip. I love her entire look, she is effortlessly stylish and oozes elegance. The dress – a simple, classic silhouette, a shirt style sundress with a high collar and a halter neck. The dress fastens with lots of tiny white buttons, it looks like something Audrey Hepburn would have worn as an off duty Hollywood star in the South of France. The third photograph (above) is the group she went with standing outside the B&B they were staying in, I’ve tried to look it up but haven’t had any luck finding it. Her brother, Ken is in the photo, in the middle of the back row. Ken’s future wife, Daphne is in the front row next to Joan and my Nanny is peeking behind the faces to the left, beside the man in the white coat – I think he must have been the owner of the B&B, along with the lady he is standing next to. Wouldn’t you just love a time machine to go back and see what it was like that day? I imagine they’re all giggling and trying to get in their places for the photo to be taken.

I have wondered if my Nanny made this dress herself, I say that because I have seen two other pieces that I know she made that have a similar collar. I have added the photographs of these below. The first, a wedding dress of a friend. Her gown has quite a dramatic, high collar similar to the sundress. She also made the bridesmaid dresses, see picture 2. And the third photo is of her in a wedding guest outfit she made, with ‘that’ statement collar. I remember her telling me it was a dusky pink taffeta. She would have made a fantastic professional seamstress or a fashion or costume designer, she had such an eye for it and was a talented dressmaker. She could bring an idea to life and understood shape of a body and the drape of different fabrics.

I remember, when I was possibly my daughter’s age, asking my Nanny, “what did you want to be when you were growing up?” she replied “I didn’t want to be anything, when I was little, girls didn’t really have a choice, they got married and became mothers and I only ever wanted to be a mum”. I suspect even if she grew up with the opportunities someone of my generation had, she still would have wanted to have been a full time mum. Fashion was her hobby but her family was her passion. She was so full of love for us all and the people she loved made her very happy, especially when we were all together in her living room, chatting and laughing and being far too loud. I think that conversation was my first lesson in women’s history, and a shock that ‘girls didn’t really have a choice’. Choices I thought were a given. I just assumed I could be anything I wanted to be. I think my love of fashion came from my love of her; these old photos she used to show us, the old films she’d sit and watch with us on a rainy day in half term and how happy I’d be sitting at the sewing machine with her. But I realise now how lucky I was to be able to go to university and study fashion. To travel to London every couple of weeks just to go to museums, exhibitions or fabric shopping with my uni friends. Not to mention trips to New York or Paris; something that wasn’t even slightly achievable for my Nanny, even if she wanted to.

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Designing

The idea of writing a blog started with this photograph:

I played around with the image and ended up making a version with a floral fabric. (Images can be seen below.)

It was the floral version that set a little spark! I needed to make this dress, so I started looking for a pattern and some fabric that would make my vision come to life.

I spent a while searching for a pattern and struggled to find something with a halter neck and at the time didn’t feel comfortable trying to self draft one. So instead, I opted for a close second, something that would still give the 1950’s, feminine shape and deliver the statement collar needed. The winning pattern was the Simplicity 1950’s Vintage S9105 from Minerva. I did make a little amendment to give the collar more of a sharp, angular shape collar, something more representing of the collar on my Nanny’s dress. I also skimmed some of the fabric away from the shoulder too, to give it a halter neck vibe. I didn’t make the belt either, because when I tried it on without it, it fit me SO perfectly, I was too proud with my fitting and measuring skills to cover it up with a belt!

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The fabric

By now, you will know I love a bargain. Better yet, I love taking something old and reusing it or making it into something new. I spent a good few weeks trying to source the perfect fabric for this dress. I needed something crisp and light, but not so light it couldn’t handle the structure of the collar and it couldn’t be at all transparent as it’s a summer dress and I didn’t want lining. I didn’t have anything in my own collection I could use and I couldn’t find anything in my local haberdashery. I searched online but it’s tricky when you can’t feel or see it in the flesh. I decided on a whim to pop into a charity shop on the way home from Elsie’s dance class one Saturday afternoon, low and behold, there it was. A 1980’s floral double duvet cover, creamy white background with dainty pastel flowers and pale green foliage. It’s crisp and perfectly clean like it’s never been used. I looked at the price tag and £3 later, I walked out of the shop with a smile on my face. One happy lady.

The duvet had two different patterns on either side. The same flowers, but one side had a more dense covering of the pattern than the other. I had to place the pattern pieces with care to ensure the flowers were positioned correctly. I decided on giving the top half a more dense pattern and the skirt has a floaty, whimsical style to it.

The collar was a bit tricky (to say the least!), it wasn’t like any other collar I’d cut before for a dress. It was more of a lapel style, the entire lapel was grown from the bodice front with a top collar piece to finish. I used interfacing to make sure it would hold it’s shape. You can flatten it to your shoulders, like in the photo on the right (above) or if you’re feeling extra sassy, you can wear it high around your neck, up to your hair line and make it more of a stand up collar. After the drama of getting it sewn together I was really pleased with the outcome.

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The finished dress

I finished the garment with tiny vintage peachy-pink buttons in the shape of flowers, 3 in a row in the centre front. They were from my Nanny’s button tin, so I’d imagine they would have come off of one of her blouses. Reusing and recycling again… plus not spending a penny! The dress has a long concealed zip on one side, which together with a new spool or two of white thread for the sewing machine and over locker, was the only time I splashed any real cash. If I had found the fabric in the haberdashery, I would have paid retail prices for it, but it does make me extra happy that the perfect fabric for this project was a charity shop find. I saved money and reused something that would have possibly be put in the bin and who doesn’t love a bargain, especially if you can twirl in it.

I took the dress on holiday, just like my Nanny and wore it on the beach in Southwold, Suffolk. The day before, I found these vintage white cat eye sunglasses in a shop called ‘The Pump House’ on Walberswick Village Green, my mum is going to wear them to Goodwood Revival later in the year with an vintage inspired outfit she found in the same shop. What luck!

Elsie makes for a fabulous photographer and director. Please enjoy the finished dress and let me know what you think!

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Sounds of the Shore

Songs that remind me of days on the beach, my Nanny and Grandad and swishing around in the sunshine wearing a pretty dress.

If you enjoyed this blog post, why not follow me on Instagram or TikTok. There’s Spotify too!